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Kristjana Gunnars
by George J. Dance Kristjana Gunnars (born March 19, 1948) is an Icelandic-Canadian poet and novelist. Life Gunnars was born Kristiana Gunnarsdotir in Reykjavík, Iceland, the daughter of Gunnar Bodvarsson, an engineer, and Tove Christensen Bodvarsson, a Danish-born textile arist. In 1964 the family moved to Oregon, where her father taught at Oregon State University.Monique Tschofen, Biography of Kristjana Gunnars, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca University. Web, Apr. 10, 2017. She married Charles Kang in 1967, and in 1969, moved to British Columbia, where her daughter was born in 1971. She returned to Oregon, earning a B.A from Oregon State University in 1973. After teaching for some years in Iceland, she returned to Canada, and earned an M.A. from the University of Regina in 1978. Encouraged by poet Eli Mandel, she began publishing her poetry in 1980, putting out 4 books in just 2 years. She separated from her husband in 1980, and spent 1980-1981 in Iceland as the assistant editor of The Iceland Review. She then enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Winnipeg, but left witout taking a degree. Gunnars was writer in residence at the Regina Public Library, 1988-1989, and the University of Alberta, 1989-1990. She taught creative writing at the University of Alberta from 1991 to 2004.Kristjana Gunnars, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca University, AthabascaU.ca, Web, July 10, 2012. She lives in British Columbia.Colin Boyd, Gunnars, Kristjana, Canadian Encyclopedia, November 11, 2008. Historica Foundation / Dominion Institute, Web, July 10, 2012. Recognition Her 1991 book, Zero Hour, was nominated for the Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction. Her 1996 poetry collection, Exiles Among You, won Alberta's Stephán G. Stephansson poetry prize. Publications Poetry *''One-eyed Moon Maps''. Victoria, BC: Press Porcepic, 1980. *''Settlement Poems 1''. Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 1980. *''Settlement Poems 2''. Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 1980. *''Wake-pick Poems''. Toronto: Anansi, 1981. *''The Night Workers of Ragnarök''. Toronto: Press Porcepic, 1985. *''Water, Waiting''. Toronto: Underwhich Editions, 1987. Chapbook. *''Carnival of Longing''. Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 1989. *''Exiles Among You''. Regina, SK: Coteau Books, 1996. *''Silence of the Country''. Regina, SK: Coteau Books, 2002. Novels *''The Prowler: A novel''. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1989. *''The Substance of Forgetting''. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1992. *''Night Train to Nykøbing: A novel''. Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1998. Short fiction *''The Axe’s Edge''. Toronto: Press Porcépic, 1983. *''The Guest House, and other stories''. Concord: Anansi, 1992. Non-fiction *''Zero Hour'' (creative non-fiction). Red Deer, AB: Red Deer College Press, 1991. *''The Rose Garden: Reading Marcel Proust''. Red Deer, AB: Red Deer College Press, 1996. *''Stranger at the Door: Writers and the act of writing''. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004. Translated *Gudmundsson, Finnbogi. Stephan G. Stephansson: In retrospect; seven essays. Reykjavík, Iceland: Icelandic Cultural Fund, 1982. *Stephansson, Stephan G. Stephan G. Stephansson: Selected prose and poetry. Red Deer, AB: Red Deer College Press, 1988. Edited *''Redhead the Whale, and other Icelandic folk tales'' (translated by Helga Miller and George Houser, edited by Gunnars; illustrated by Helga Miller). Winnipeg, MB: Queenston House, 1985. *''The Papers of Dorothy Livesay'' (edited with Richard Bennett and Pamela Banting). Winnipeg, MB: Department of Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba Libraries, 1986. *''Crossing the River: Essays in honor of Margaret Laurence'' edited and introduction by Kristjana Gunnars). Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 1988. *''Unexpected Fictions: New Icelandic Canadian writing'' (edited and introduction by Kristjana Gunnars). Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press, 1989. *''Transient Questions: Essays on the writing of Mavis Gallant''. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi, 2004. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Athabasca University.Monique Tschofen, Bibliography of Works by Kristjana Gunnars, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca University, AthabascaU.ca, Web, July 10, 2012. See also *List of Canadian poets References Notes External links ;Poems *"Jóhann Briem" - 2 poems at The Icelandic Emigration ;Books *Kristjana Gunnars at Amazon.com ;About *Kristjana Gunnars in the Canadian Encyclopedia *Kristjana Gunnars at Arthuis * Kristjana Gunnars at English-Canadian Writers *10 or 20 questions with Kristjana Gunnars, interview, 2007. Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian novelists Category:Icelandic emigrants to Canada Category:Canadian women writers Gunnars, Kristjana Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:University of Manitoba alumni Category:University of Alberta faculty Category:Women poets Category:Translators to English